I can’t sleep
And can’t begrudge
The dream that steals you on a whim
I can’t sleep
Words swirl in catalogues
Of shapes, tales, and wails
I can’t sleep
My doppelganger’s ghosts
Strut in heels behind heavy lids
I traveled to Lagos one weekend, and my head did an immediate switch; happy to have malls, ice-cream, and pizza within thought distances. Then I returned to Abeokuta and the first thing I noticed was a strike by members of the Union of Road Transport Workers. The cause of the strike: an over hundred percent increase in taxation had been placed by the State Government. That, in a city where passengers perennially haggle for the lowest fares conceivable, and some plead to pay twenty naira for some distances! It was simply impossible. A deliberate act of cruelty which could neither be allowed nor accepted. For a minute I stood at the garage and just stared at people walking down the long road; a vision of colours, luggaged backs, and stretching legs.
At the bus-stop, there were some parked cabs. There were also men beside them occasionally in conversation with people as they walked. The people often walked past them shortly after. On rare occasions, the people got into the cab. I guessed that some few routes were bereft of protesting Union staff; hence safe for cab drivers to ply. Hoping my route was among the ‘safe’ ones, I took contemplative steps towards them.
“One-fifty ni”
“Shey nitori strike? Sebi awon egbe yin naa l’on fa wahala? Ibo ni k’a ti ri? Ko ni da fuun yin. Ebi l’o ma pa yin ku. Shey thirty naira ori e yen lo ma je ke la? Oloriburuku oko asewo…*”
I felt my jaw fall, but couldn’t lock it back. A woman had gotten to the cabman I’d heard calling destinations along my route just before me. And she was cussing him out because of a thirty naira increase in the fare.
Is she bloody joking?
My mind couldn’t grasp it. I had mentally prepared to pay a hundred percent increase in the fare, and she was going crazy over a less than fifty percent increase. When the financial risk he ran for operating at a time his union members were protesting was –at the least– over ten times the fare he was requesting. I was shocked!
You see enh, in Lagos: when anything happens to cause a driver any inconvenience -whether or not there’s a risk attached to it- passengers compensate with higher fares. Rain falls; you pay for the inconvenience of his being on the road, instead of cuddling in bed with his wife. At rush hour, you pay for the ribald tales, pepper soup, and bobbing, laughing stomach which should have been his at any of the many bars sprawled all over the city; if he hadn’t been driving you. On any random day, you pay extra if you’re too impatient to wait for another vehicle, and he needs money to make up his children’s school fees… or give his woman for that fashion accessory all her friends want/have…. The list is maybe endless.
While the woman’s tirade and my thoughts debated, I slipped into the cab. The people already in the cab were divided; some empathized with the driver, others lamented the increase. I looked at them closely; then smiled. The ‘lamenters’ had tribal marks that proclaimed them from Abeokuta; while the others bore travelling bags, and soon began to speak of other cities.
Aah, I thought, case dismissed.
*Translation:
“Is it because of the strike? Isn’t it your colleagues who are causing the trouble? From where do you expect me to find the fare you request? It would not be good for you. It is hunger that would kill you. Is it the thirty naira increase that would make you successful? A no-good person, husband of a prostitute…”
Of Souls and Shadows
I’m sitting here
In the middle of this debris
Of blood and jagged muscles
Pulsing the beat of the drunk man’s trudge
The demons race
Debating pain and hurt
Whispering dreams and hopes
Madness tethers on this unspeaking frenzy
Your eyes tell that story
Of empty bottles and drowned soul
Mine speak primitive tongues
Of broken groans and rising throes
Don’t say tomorrow
That pregnant dream reminiscent of nightmares
No. Don’t shed light
It casts shadows too
September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
I fight like a girl.
I’m an ovarian cancer survivor. Last summer to my painful surprise a tumor inside my right ovary ruptured and blew my entire world wide open. Surgery and tests and more tests and appointments with specialists at home and in Boston took up much of my time and energy, and most of my thoughts.
I was lucky. My cancer was caught early, and I had a very rare form of ovarian cancer called Granulosa Cell Tumor (GCT). GCT is a slow growing cancer, which allows more time for surgical intervention. I had surgery and decided not to have chemotherapy, but rather to alter my diet a bit and add some natural supplements. At just over a year I maintain great health with a wonderful prognosis.
But, like every cancer survivor fear haunts me and my family. What if…
I don’t know the answer to what if…
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On Cooking, Manhood, and this thing called Feminism
The thoughts that are contained within this here piece have been threatening to burst out ever since someone posted that video of the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor E.O. Adeboye where he talked about what makes people marriageable. However, I didn’t find an outlet to channel it through until someone started a conversation on twitter last week by asking tweeps how long their sexual intercourse sessions lasted. The replies were interesting, with tweeps reporting sessions ranging from as short as five minutes to as long as one and a half hours.
The thread made me remember when I was in secondary school. That time my younger friends and I had older colleagues and classmates who used to tell us about their sexcapades. I remember clearly listen to one tell us that he once had sex with a girl for three straight hours. Of course like…
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Body Diary: Between Me and Hungry Me
11:32 a.m
Hungry me: “We need food”
Me: “I had breakfast”
*Stretches left hand into bag to fetch bananas*
12:59 p.m
Hungry me: “Hungry. Again.”
Me: “I just fed you”
Hungry me: “Two bananas. Two. Bloody. Bananas!”
Me: “Shouting is rude. Especially in someone’s head.”
*pauses*
“No food. Go learn some manners.”
Hungry me: “Thunder fire you!”
13:24hrs
Hungry me: “Stomach is biting. Foood”
Me: “Nah; would ruin vibe. Music and report are dope right now”
13:40hrs
Hungry me: “What’s the thing you have against belching and co in public?”
Me: “Image management. Those are rude. Not ‘me’”
Hungry me: “Okay. You should skip the next song.”
Me: “Why?”
Hungry me: “R. Kelly croons licking the middle of orioles in it”
Me: “But that’s not what the lyrics really mean. It’s metaphor for…”
Hungry me: *cuts in*
“R.Kelly is responsible for what he says. I for what I understand.”
Me: *face falls*
“That’s my best song on the album”
Hungry me: “If that song plays, I’m going to purr.”
Me: “I’m at work. An office. With other people.”
Hungry me: “Low. Sexy. Hungry. Rumble. Purr.”
Me: *frowns; thoughtful* Why’s that causing tingles down my spine? *bites lower lip*
“I’ve given my life to Jesus.”
Hungry me: “Hunh hunh.”
Me: *Gets up to get food*
#Blackmail #BodyDiary #Hunger #Worktales
Sweet Nothings
Mumble in my ear, dear;
A little sweet something,
Mumble this morning
I don’t care that I don’t hear,
The warmth of your breath – ah yeah!
Yes o,
It tickles,
Feel the ripples
As I massage life into your heart with my palm,
I gave up on the lies, I’m past trying.
Oya smile for me now, you’re past crying
The last man in
Is usually the first out,
Think of all the pain these plains cannot let out
But you mean that much to me,
So I let all the love out,
Let’s stay indoors today, I cannot shout
Love You. I Do.
image courtesy sweetnothings.com
